


Stolen with Friendship, Captured by Love

by Teddy_Feathers



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Papyrus doesn't get enough love, Trying to be silly, if anyone else wants to steal this go ahead, would be better with more characterization
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-05-19
Packaged: 2018-05-25 18:30:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6205942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teddy_Feathers/pseuds/Teddy_Feathers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Help I've been kidnapped. I've been trapped in this house for the past three days. Cooking."  <br/>The kidnapper used unconventional methods for keeping you chained to his side.  <br/>He was obviously affection starved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Have you ever loved someone so much that you just wanted to keep them hidden away from the world, all to yourself?  
> Well... Apparently that's called kidnapping.
> 
> So silly idea of Papyrus just being this really nice guy people like and follow home like a puppy. Then this happened.

When the second monster finally came home, you couldn't help but shoot him wide eyes and mouth ‘save me’. You very literally couldn't say no to the other skeleton.

You needed a shower. You needed your bed. You really needed to run those errands you'd started when you first got into this mess.

The newcomer was shorter than you by a head, and seemed to take your silent plea for help a bit more seriously than you had meant...

Well... Okay you needed rescuing, but really that was on you and not your supposed captor.

You'd made six different marinara pasta sauces and one Alfredo sauce today. The first day you hadn't seen where this had been going. Naive little you, the cooking major more than happy to share your knowledge with your next door neighbor who was lonely since his brother would be out all night.

Woke up on the second day ridiculously early after having spoken late into the night about the different styles of pasta and how you could change up the simple recipe of spaghetti to something pretty fancy with minor alterations.

The sun was barely awake when he dragged you into the kitchen off of the couch you'd rather have been getting more intimately acquainted with. He insisted on making his ‘special breakfast spaghetti’ and... It was something... Special alright.

You didn't even know they made edible glitter but the texture was still too gritty for your liking.

Somehow you'd ended up showing him a more kitchen friendly way of cooking, followed by trying to find a way to make the glitter more palatable. Finally finding the MTT Brand website and scrolling through the - mostly terrible – reviews, one helpful soul suggested adding the glitter to the noodles as they boiled.

Which both softened the texture and meant you didn't have to drown the sauce in it just for the sparkling to be evident.

You'd only made it two or three bites into that meal before falling asleep with your head on the table. A position you were awoken from again _far_ too early in the morning.

Since you'd successfully solved the aesthetic value of the food, he really wanted to address the differences you'd mention to him. He'd received less than sterling feedback on his additions to his spaghetti before.

Apparently nobody had the heart to tell the poor guy that his food was less than great, but he wasn't stupid. He was a cook at heart like you. You didn't want verbal confirmation of your skills - that'd only tell you that your cooking tasted good. But feeders wanted the more subtle praise of popped buttons, asking for seconds, and satisfied sighs expressing how _glad_ they were for eating your food.

He didn't know how to express that, but you understood. And because you did how could you leave him without trying to help him make it happen? But six dishes and too many practice runs, on top of two nights of very little sleep, had worn you out.

You look haggard and you knew it. However you didn't realize the combination of your request for rescue added into your appearance would cause an outsider to assume the worst.

In fact, why did his brother immediately think it plausible that his brother was keeping a human as a kitchen slave? Was this not the first time he'd come home to see his brother had brought home a complete stranger and somehow made them a slave to his will?

...Well that made it sound dark. That's what you get from a sleep deprived mind. Honestly he was a nice guy, but he obviously didn't have an off switch. Part of you wished you could bottle that. _Never need coffee again._

Regardless, you managed to clear up the misunderstanding and actually leave the skelebros’ house. The look that the big guy shot you said he'd never get to see you again. Which was silly.

You lived right next door.

* * *

 

Luckily you’d had a three day weekend. Calling into work for ‘spaghetti reasons’ probably wouldn’t have gone over too well. Never mind the fact you couldn't make up a missed class. It may have been just the one, but you were slowly working your way to your dream.

It took three days for you to have a bit if free time and make it to the store like you'd originally planned on doing the past weekend. Remembering the sheer amount of pasta you'd cooked you ended up buying stuff to replace it, plus a handful of extra ingredients you figured he could experiment with.

You dropped off your things at home, and then knocked on your neighbors’ door. At first there was no answer - to be expected really since they probably had work - and you stood on the porch debating if you could leave the bags here or if you should try and catch them another time.

Then the door clicked open. It was the shorter brother, whose groggy eye …sockets?... widened at you in surprise.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you!" He flinched. Your voice was too cheery for him. You sympathized, mornings were not your best time either, but it was after two so you didn't feel too guilty. "Just wanted to replace the things we used this weekend."

He stepped aside and you went in. He kept staring at you, but after three days of occupation it didn't feel awkward or invasive for you to be there. You took off your shoes and headed to the kitchen, unloading your bags onto the counter, and the contents into their respective places.

Papyrus (it'd taken a bit for you to remember the name, details unrelated to cooking usually were ignored while you were in the kitchen) had a system for his space and you were already familiar with parts of it. Everything you weren't sure about got left out so they could be taken care of when he got back home.

You turned to leave, jumping slightly when you realized ...Sands? - The best brother second only to the great Papyrus anyways - was still staring at you. The comfortable familiarity of stocking a kitchen had made you forget about him for a moment.

You gave him an easy smile. "Sorry again for waking you, tell your brother I look forward to hearing what he makes of the new ingredients I picked up for him!"

 _Poor guy, he must be pretty out of it._ He just kept staring at you. You showed yourself out so he could get a couple extra Zs before his energetic brother got home.

That weekend, bright and early, someone was banging on your door. You opened it to reveal your neighbors who were somehow up and functioning at the same time the sun was crawling out of its bed.

Well. Papyrus was functioning.

Sans looked about how you felt.

You invited them in and made coffee, declined by the taller of the two and practically inhaled by the shorter. Probably for the best. Who knew what that bundle of energy would be like on caffeine?

Impatient with the comfortable morning contemplation, Papyrus nudged his half dozing brother.

Who propped his head up and gave you a crooked smile.

“So my Bro had a latte fun last weekend. I’m working on a project that’s keeping me busy the next few. So how about we mocha this a regular thing? If you’ve got the time, I think he’d get a real kick out of it.” Papyrus was looking everywhere but you, face twisting into a frown everytime his brother spit out an awful pun. You’d laugh but…

For some reason you felt like he was asking you to babysit his fully grown brother, or for a play date. You looked between the two, a small furrow marring your brow.

"Okay, I've only been given the basic primer on Monsters, but I thought that kids wore stripes?" That gained you a dark look from the – you were betting older - brother skeleton. But it also broke the uncharacteristic silence from Papyrus.

"We thought perhaps you were too intimidated to say no last time. My greatness can be over awing for humans." Despite the slightly pompous words he sounded quite sad. Like this had happened before. Like... It clicked. It had. You were not the first human he'd dragged home.

You were just the first who came back.

You giggle. You couldn't help it. Sans coming home to find a string of people in his home with his brother, all not wanting to hurt the big guys feelings by leaving. "If I'd had a problem I'd have told you. Your enthusiasm just is kind of catching and I forgot I needed to sleep.” As you spoke the tension broke. “Seriously feel free to absconded with me whenever."

The smile that rewarded you made you feel awesome. You'd meant it, but if you hadn't that look - like you were the best friend a guy could have - would have made your words retroactively true. Wasn’t like you did much on your days off anyways.

"Or you can come over here. Either way. No biggie." That offer slipped out much easier than it ever had before. Your kitchen was your baby. You didn't let just anyone come in and make a mess in her. But the tall skeleton just already felt like a really good friend.

Papyrus ran off to get the things he wanted to use and you were left alone with his brother. You enjoyed the peace, already knowing it'd be the only bit of it you’d be getting this weekend.

Thinking about it again you giggle some more and was met with the same empty stare. "No wonder you’re so worried if your brother is so charming he's leading a string of strangers home every weekend."

His gaze grew deeper, but his permanent grin widened. “Yeah my bros pretty cool. Gets a bit carried away with new people though.”

A frown crossed your face. “Yeah. Glad it was me and not someone who wanted to run off with _him_.”

“Thought you were behind the idea that he's a big boy and can take care of himself?”

You flush. Maybe you'd been a bit rude. “There are somethings nobody should have to deal with.” You'd seen the news. Not everyone was welcoming the monsters with open arms. There were some pretty awful people out there.

You felt a prickling sensation on the back of your neck and you rubbed it absently. Sans was still staring at you. You were beginning to think it was less of a tired thing and more of a Sans thing.

* * *

 

You end up deciding to show Papyrus how to make lasagna. Apparently his best friend had been showing him how to cook as a bonding exercise, but when they'd almost burned down her house the wife had put her foot down.

Now they just exercised in her yard.

You learned a lot about his friends and life in general. He had only good things to say about everyone, and as he spoke of his exploits and his everyone’s shenanigins since coming to the surface… Well. It made you smile harder and feel lighter.

For your part you shared the why's, how’s, and tricks to the dish you were making. Both to drag out the experience and so he'd be able to replicate your efforts later.

When you yawned largely popping your jaw in the process, you decided the only way you were going to get a good night sleep was to not so subtly hint he go to bed. You knew either way he'd be waking you up bright and early.

So you pulled out the sleeper sofa, pilled on the extra blankets and pillows, and exclaimed how since he let you sleep over at his place, it was only fair that he slept over at yours.

Getting him into the bed proved easier than you'd thought. Sleepovers were one of his, many, favorite things.

You left your door open, just in case he needed something and crawled into your own bed gratefully.

…Then proceeded to listen to the skeleton toss and turn most of the night.

Despite the fact you knew he had gotten just as little sleep as you had, he was dragging your 'lazy' self out of bed with the sun the next morning.

Again he declined coffee, but he was excited to learn about leftover omelettes you made for breakfast.

He seemed especially enamored with your oni rice – a rice filled omelet that you put ketchup on. He said his brother would probably like that so you spent the day teaching him how to make fried rice, which took timing but he caught on quick, and then teaching him the frustrating art of making an egg into a food envelope.

After dinner, which consisted of two pretty well made ham and cheese omelets, you dragged Papyrus out to the store, both to replenish your own stock and to pick out a couple of things for next weekend.

You bought more food than you could possibly use or eat on your own, but for being a skeleton he had a pretty hearty appetite and you figured you could give the extra leftovers to them. Since there were two of them to your one.

You didn’t notice the stares, negative or just curious, but you did notice how much fun Papyrus was having exclaiming over the wide variety of products in the store. It was a nice trip.

The next afternoon you decided to cheat and give yourself a break by making cake-mix-cookies. Premade box mix with coconut shavings, nuts, and chocolate chips made a lot of great cookies with very little effort.

In fact the two of you sat on the couch all afternoon, bed tucked away, watching Iron Chef America. While not half as entertaining as the original show, Papyrus seemed enraptured as the contestants tried to pull together amazing meals out of random food in the shortest amount of time possible.

Sans showed up to pick up his brother about mid afternoon, looking beat. After a heartfelt goodbye until next weekend and more staring, you were alone. The quiet didn't seem as peaceful with no one around.

The next weekend you didn't even try to fight it, you didn’t even _want_ to despite the fact shuffling next door made you feel like the living dead. The sun wasn’t quite out yet, so at least you'd beaten your early morning wake up call.

At the door you were greeted by a grumpy short skeleton. He led you into the kitchen where he already had a pot of coffee brewing. Generously he gave you half. Part of you wanted to ask where he'd gotten mugs that big, but the rest of you knew to enjoy the peace while it lasted.

It ended sooner than expected when Sans cleared his throat. “Thanks for hanging with my bro. You’re really making his day. Never seen him so happy when I come back.” Since you were somewhere between drinking and drowning in your cup of go-go juice you didn't know if he was doing his staring thing or not.

“If anything I should be thanking you guys. Been a while since I made such a good friend. Don't get out much.”

You could see the bottom of the mug... It filled you with disappointment until the coffee pot chimed again signaling the second batch was done. This time you hopped up and refilled both of your cups.

He was in fact staring.

"Hey I have ask, what's up with you guys?” Your mind was finally processing things again. “You, according to your brother, are always sleeping but always seem exhausted and I swear he doesn't sleep but he's never droopy. Ever."

The question at least turned off the tunnels.

It was like he was trying to see what you were up to, but you didn't have an alternative motive for hanging out with his brother. Hell. Before 8am you didn't have a motive for existing. It was just something they had brought into your life. Not the other way around.

He glanced towards the stairs. There was the sound of muffled movement. Guess Papyrus was up.

“Bro... Cares about people. Gets attached fast. Gets excited. Gets hurt more often than not. He worries I think. People leave.” Didn’t answer the question you’d asked, but told you something more important.

It was hard to be quite so happy go lucky after that.

But Papyrus’ smiling face wiped the sadder thoughts away. He was just _so_ glad to see you. Even knowing why couldn't take away from the feeling you were just as glad to see him.

You didn't really have friends or hobbies outside of cooking and work. Even having three days off a week hadn't allowed you to cultivate strong relationships with others. But you and him just kind of clicked.

* * *

 

Sans left, and instead of cooking, Papyrus decided he needed to share with you has other favorite pastime. Puzzles.

‘Puzzles’ was a very large encompassing subject you learned. It included jigsaws, brain teasers, obstacle courses, and almost any game.

You hadn't been to a park since you were a kid, but soon found yourself going at least bi-weekly. Playing hide and go seek and tag, sometimes just the two of you, sometimes with the squealing children who were there playing.

You'd return to whoever’s house breathless, heart pounding, and more often than not over his shoulder.

Hanging with the big guy meant you were probably in the best shape of your life, but you'd never be able to keep up with him. It was like he was the energizer bunny.

How did he do it without sleep?


	2. Chapter 2

Finally you did figure out a way to get the skeleton to sleep at night. You’d gotten him an electric plug in candle. Explained how humans had this tradition to keep a candle in the window so that family members who were away could always find their way home.

He said that he wasn't worried about his brother forgetting where they lived, but the first night you'd plugged it in, he'd stared at it until finally drifting off.

It was probably the best night of rest you'd ever gotten.

For once in your sleepovers, your internal clock woke you before he did. You got to go through your normal morning wake up peacefully until he woke just as the sun did. For once when he bounded out of bed, you were ready to match his enthusiasm.

You didn't know how to bring it up, but now that you'd helped Papyrus with his sleeping troubles, you worried about Sans. Whatever his weekend job was it took a lot out of him, and you never saw him look anything less than exhausted. His brother also was concerned, though he did indicate that Sans perked up during the week.

The downside to a plug in candle became apparent soon enough.

You were curled up on the couch watching a sexy robot butcher a cooking show. Neither you or Papyrus minded though. You were both watching for the sexy legs and witty commentary of the star.

Then the power went out, plunging you both into darkness. You could feel him shift in the dark, and you turned your head with his.

The candle was out.

A feeling of dread settled, like something bad had happened, even though you knew it was just a silly superstition... A wave of dread hit you again, like deja vu, but before it could settle into a pit in your stomach the lights flickered back on, and so did the candle.

You both let out heavy sighs of relief. You turned to share a grin with your friend, only to notice how tightly you had been clinging to his arm. His other hand had moved to rest supportively on your shoulder. You pulled back a bit, feeling silly.

It was _his_ brother after all.

But Papyrus didn’t seem to mind. He watched you for a moment before giving you an easy smile. “Do not worry friend. My brother has always managed to find his way home before, with or without a guiding light.”

You felt silly to worry about it when he was so confident, but that night you didn't sleep.

He did.

Peacefully.

You just couldn't shake that feeling. That feeling that you'd wait all day tomorrow and Sans would never show. You were sure the experience would break Papyrus's seemingly indomitable spirit.

The next day you were tense, and even though he didn't understand why, Papyrus gave you your space. You both pretended to watch TV.

Really you were watching the door, and he was watching you.

Despite your fears, Sans knock and customary joke came right on time. As the brothers caught up in your kitchen you watched the shorter of the pair carefully. For once you were the one staring.

He looked... Better than you had ever seen him. There was relaxation in his movements that you had never realized was missing. While he looked tired, it was the type of tired that meant he would sleep well tonight.

You were glad. He caught you staring and winked, and you rolled your eyes at him. The feeling of dread eased and passed like the bad dream it probably was.

His work was done now.

It didn't hit you until after they had gone home what that meant. There wouldn't be much cause for your sleepovers anymore. You tried not to let it get you down - after all you were still friends. You'd still hang out.

Despite your self-pep-talk you were listless the rest of the week.

* * *

 

You'd been conditioned to wake up early on the weekends by now, and even know you didn't have a reason to be up, you found yourself nursing a cup of coffee in the morning darkness.

The sun rose and you fidgeted, no longer use to simply _not_ doing anything. You went ahead and completed some basic chores but still felt... Well lazy. You should be doing something more.

Around 10 came the pounding on your door. You went to check it, finding Papyrus looking anxiously at you. “Human are you sick?”

“No... Why?” The question caught you off guard. _I don’t look sick do I?_

Seeing you were fine his tone became disappointed. “Then why did I fail to commence our regularly scheduled hangout?”

Oh. “I figured now that your brother and friends were done with their top secret project you would want to spend this time with them?” It came out as a question.  

He put his hands on his hips and frowned at you. _Frowned._ “The great papyrus is capable of having multiple friends at once; it is _one_ of the things that makes me great.”

When he put it like that you felt dumb.

If you could start this day over you would in a heartbeat. “I know that. It's just the entire reason you were hanging out with me on the weekends was because everyone was gone right?” His brother would probably stare at you for hours after this. You rarely felt guilt about something, but when you did you could swear ‘big brother’ could practically see it written on your forehead.

Papyrus rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, the orange pupils making a grand trip around his eye sockets, before he squeezed you into a tight hug. “We became friends because you saw how great I am, and because I thought you were pretty good too.”

You flushed at the complement. Sure he was super nice, and obviously thought the best of everyone. That didn't mean you weren't pleased that your best friend thought so highly of you.

He let go and you thought you saw a dusting of orange across his cheeks. "You have five minutes to get ready before I will be forced to capture you. We have lost enough time of our hangout because of your boondoggling!"

Get ready? You looked down at yourself. Oh. You hadn't bothered getting dressed since you hadn't thought you had plans. You’d hugged the skeleton without a bra on. Whoops.

Before you could get too far lost in your embarrassment he frowned at you again and said "Four minutes."

You fled to get changed. You'd learned the hard way that he didn’t mess around about that sort of thing. You'd rather not be carried across the street without pants on or something.

You'd managed the clothes but not socks or shoes before you were scooped up. You were dropped unceremoniously on the couch next to Sans who snorted when you bounced off.

“Caught yourself a live one Paps?”

The question inspired one of his famous dramatic poses. “The great Papyrus has caught this human many times without incident.”

You gestured at your bare feet. “I think he's gotten tired of me escaping at the end of the weekend - he's made sure I'm trapped here forever.”

“Nonsense human. If I wanted to keep you trapped I'd build a cage.” Logical, completely Papyrus, but still a creepy thing to say.

You made your eyes wide and glanced between the brothers, before mouthing ‘help me’ at Sans.

Unlike the first day you met, he seemed unconcerned.

“Sorry pal. He's an official royal guardsman. I'm bared from interfering.”

Lazybones. You squinted at him and then grinned mischievously. “Oh yeah? Well in that case-” You reached out and slapped your hand against his shoulder yelling, “You’re it!”

Ducking behind Papyrus you ran outside. Papyrus, not slow on the uptake, also took off running beside you.

Bare feet slapped the grass in time with his booted ones. You'd both figured out playing with kids that the best strategy was to keep together and hope the other one go hit.

Sans stepped out from behind a tree ahead, and you split, one going left and the other going right.

You felt a hand brush your side and you swung around to tag him back, but he was already gone.

You ran after the flashes of blue until both of you had caught up to Papyrus. Sans was frustratingly good at dodging but you manage to tackle the taller skeleton. You sat up, and noticed that he seemed winded but otherwise okay, so you took off running again chasing after Sans in the hopes of sharing the target.

You didn't get too far before you finally ran out of luck and cut your foot on a rock. You dropped to your knees and grabbed your ankle hissing in pain.

It wasn't bad, despite the bleeding, feet were just sensitive.

“Didn't expect you to fall head over heels for us pal.” Sans said somewhere behind you.

Normally you’d laugh but you were biting your lip to keep from cussing or whining and just clung to your ankle. _It hurt_.

“Are you okay friend? Has my finally greatness overwhelmed you? Or my brother’s vile punnery rendered you speechless?

They came closer and finally realized what the issue was.

You were scooped up by Papyrus and taken back to the house where they patched you up. Well. Papyrus did. Sans made jokes about them being stuck on you.

You hated limping around and it was unanimously decided that the only solution was to have an impromptu anime night.

* * *

 

Phone calls were made. Blankets and pillows were produced from somewhere. Suddenly there were more people than you knew what to do with.

Two scaly ladies, one tall and blue the other short and yellow, came in carrying an armful of DVDs each. Introduced as Undyne and Alphys respectively.

A large goat woman came with an armful of food and a rather grumpy looking teen. Sans leaned over to explain that it was one of Frisk’s down days and not to take anything too personally before going off to help, or rather joke with, Toriel in the kitchen.

Papyrus was in the thick of things. Very loud and excited as he caught up with his friends and helped them set everything up.

Frisk plopped down on the couch next to you as the other three had an adamant discussion on what they should play first.

The teen muttered "It'll be a boring romantic comedy. It's always a boring romantic comedy." The comment wasn't directed at you but you replied anyways.

"The vote goes that way every time?"

The kid snorted. "There is no voting. Alphys picks something, Undyne counters with something action packed, and Papyrus tries to make everyone happy. Then Undyne gives in because her wife is way more passionate about anime than she is, and Undyne respects passion."

You watched the argument and it did seem to be heading that direction. "Might be able to get them to compromise." You offered.

The teen snorted again. "Good luck with that. Takes more determination than its worth."

You shrugged. Might cheer up Frisk though. You could remember being dragged to things you didn't want to do as a kid. If you could make it a bit more bearable there wasn't any reason not to try.

"Hey have you guys seen Durarara? There's a lot of action _and_ romance in that." Sure the relationships weren't exactly _healthy_ but it didn't seem like a major concern in the anime genre.

Seeing as this WAS your first anime night with them, they graciously let you pic the first show.

You had the middle seat on the couch with Papyrus to your right and Frisk to your left, Undyne and Alphys were cuddled on the floor in a pile of pillows and blankets, Sans and Toriel shared the loveseat.

Softly throughout you could hear discussions about the different characters, wondering who the leader of the gang really was, what the bad guys were up to. Who actually counted as ‘bad guys’ seeing as there was more of a grey morality in all the characters.

Frisk even seemed to cheer up a bit, as this was something new, only occasionally shooting glares at their mother and Sans as they made puns about people getting _ahead_ of themselves.

It was nice, your foot gave up throbbing and only twinged at you when you accidentally bumped it.

By the time you’d started the second season Frisk was nodding off, slowly stretching out beside you on the couch. You tried to give the teen room without crowding Papyrus but evidently your shifting bugged him. He dragged you into his lap and told you to stop distracting him.

The lap in question didn't feel like bones under your butt. More like he had a pillow in his lap. You wondered how that worked but you'd already been told off for moving, didn't want to bother him with talking too.

At some point you joined Frisk in the land of nod.

You woke a couple of hours later; strangely it felt like the absence of sound was what woke you.

Everyone else was deep asleep it looked like except... A hand was stroking through your hair.

You looked up, seeing you were still very much in the skeleton’s lap and leaning against his chest. He was looking down at you orange pupils pinpricks of light in the otherwise dark room.

He kept petting your head. You'd complain but honestly it felt nice.

"Why aren't you asleep 'rus?" You whispered groggily. "I can get off you if you want to go to bed."

His hand hesitated for a moment before resuming its course. "The great Papyrus doesn't need as much sleep as the rest of you do." you giggled at his mock whisper. "and you seemed to like me petting you while you slept."

It _was_ very soothing. You pressed the side of your face against his chest again, still wondering how someone so boney could feel so soft. "If you're uncomfortable I can move.” You offered again.

You'd just gotten him to sleep regularly, seemed counterproductive to keep sitting on him if it was keeping him awake.

But his hand passing through your hair making it difficult think. "You are a very comfy human and I am most happy keeping you where you are." That was good. Because you were already drifting off. "sweet dreams."

It was later than normal when you woke up. The sun was up before you for the first time in a while. You sat up and stretched, carefully extracting yourself from the still sleeping skeleton and the teen wrapped around your legs.

Sans was already in the kitchen, starting single mindedly at the coffeepot as it trickled out its life giving substance. You stood by him as if your added gaze could make the process any faster.

A half remembered dream came to you as you waited, mouth obeying mind before the filter could catch it.

"I'm glad you're not dead. I’d have to give up coffee if you were. And that's just the smallest sad thing." It was. That one smallest sad thing that made all the other sad things feel worse.

He shuffled a little to shift his stare to you instead of the clear glass slowly filling with brown liquid. You felt that weird itch on the back of your neck as he asked “why?”

You shook your head, the memory fuzzy. “Just a nightmare I guess. But you left and didn't come back. And coffee was our thing. Papyrus moved into my place because everything here reminded him of you. I couldn't get rid of the coffee pot, couldn’t let it go like we had to let you go, but I couldn't make any either.” It was an awful feel. So glad it wasn’t real. “Just a nightmare I guess.” You repeated.

He bummed his shoulder against yours. Made some stupid joke that made you smile. Dissipated the weird feeling.

Breakfast was a complicated effort as Papyrus, Toriel, and you all tried to insist on cooking something. Cooking with fire magic turned out to be an experience very unlike cooking over an open flame. It also made the food taste different.

Not bad, but like there was something extra in it.

Everyone split for the day, you were forbidden from leaving due to both foot related injuries and because the weekend hang out wasn't over until tomorrow.

You didn't mind.

What would you do with yourself if you weren't being kidnapped on your days off? What had you done before?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter sorry.

Papyrus pulled out some things from his room, one of which was a 'yarn puzzle'... You had no idea how to crochet despite the directions but you did manage to show him cat’s cradle.

You'd forgotten most of the tricks for it, but Papyrus figured or made up some on his own. The yarn tightened easily around your wrists and you grinned trying to pull free.

"Nope. You're mine human. I have caught you fair and square. I shall be keeping you now." He sounded far too pleased with himself, as usual.

You wiggled your arms a bit. "Hey Mr. Royal Guard, I've heard about your human hunting days! You always let us go in the end."

He used the 'cuffs' to pull you closer before wrapping his arms around you and dragging you into a hug.

"That's obviously what I've been doing wrong then. Letting go." His hug tightened.

You were half splayed in his lap, tried to struggle and slip away further down the couch causing him to laugh, but his arms didn't loosen their hold.

Sans shuffled in from wherever he had been and you called out. "Help!" Papyrus’ arms were like vices around your upper body trapping your hands above your head and your legs kicked uselessly as you flailed to get free.

He shrugged and shuffled your way, but instead if helping you escape he sat on your legs effectively pinning them.

"Betrayal!" You yelled as Papyrus congratulated his brother of making use of his natural talents.

He settled himself more comfortably on your legs. "I'm good at making use of my assets."

Papyrus groaned in protest and released you, but with Sans on your legs you were still trapped in Papyrus' lap. Speaking of which...

“Hey dumb human question but why aren't you guys more boney? I mean it's nice to not get bruised rough housing with you guys but this -” you kicked your legs barely managing to shift the heavy skeleton, “should hurt. Right?”

Heck you'd had children sit or jump on you and come away more banged up than playing tag with Papyrus.

“We're made of magic.” Papyrus stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

You looked at Sans who shrugged. “Bros right. We're made of magic not calcium or whatever it is you humans have. We don't have to be hard and unforgiving if we don't want to be. Monsters are compassionate creatures usually. It would take more effort to stop being soft.”

To demonstrate, Sans pelvic bone was suddenly digging painfully into your legs. And then he wasn't. He didn't move, wasn't sitting on an invisible pillow like it felt, he just stopped being hard.

Huh. “Who knew? Skeletons and cuddly.”

“My turn for an species based question!” Papyrus was practically vibrating with excitement.

Seemed fair enough. “Okay go ahead.”

“What purpose does this serve?” One long finger tapped your mouth as you tilted your head back to look at him.

“Well lips are good for a couple of things.” You heard a snort from sans but you didn't acknowledge it. “If I didn't have them, food and drink would come back out when I’m eating. Me talking has to do with vibrating the cords in my throat and then channeling that noise with my tongue and lips to form words. Oh and I can do this.”

You pursued your lips and let out a short whistle.

Both skeletons looked startled.

“You can speak bird!!!”

It was cute that he always got over enthusiastic about the silliest things. “Um no. Their whistles are outside of my noise range.”

They both still seemed impressed.

“And here I thought your face only made that shape when kissing.” Sans commented.

“Nah. Most people have to pursue their lips to whistle, there's another way that involves fingers but I don’t actually know how to do that.” You were beginning to feel drowsy.

It was comfy on the couch. One brother sitting on and keeping your legs warm, the other one wrapped around your back.

“And why do you kiss? Isn't that just pressing your faces together?” Papyrus asked still brimming with curiosity.

You shrug. “Sometimes it involves tongue, but yeah humans find it fun to press their fleshy bits together. Just feels good to have someone else move it around I guess.”

San's snorted again and you wiggled underneath him. You weren't explaining to _anyone_ the chemistry and biology behind it. Not unless you ever decided to have kids... Even then it'd be better to have the significant other do it. You’d have to give birth after all, so it seemed like a fair division of labor.

You were starting to drift off. Skeletons really were cozy.

"I think I'd like to try it." You opened an eye to look up at the slightly orange skeleton. You weren't sure if his head was hanging so low so he could be polite and maintain eye contact or if he just was getting tired too.

"Well. Not sure how you'd go about doing it, being a skeleton and all, but make sure you've got permission before you try it with anybody." Your eye slid closed again.

The three of you took a nap, and when you woke up it was definitely time for food.

* * *

 

You insisted on going home. You demanded it. You got quite loud and adamant. At one point you even tried asking nicely. Nothing worked.

You were in an expensive red convertible, being driven to an Urgent Care. Stupid foot.

After your nap, you’d realized how tender the cut was getting, and how hot to the touch. You tried to play it off, but Papyrus wanted to change the band aid before you left. Made you picked out one of the many MTT brand shapes and everything.

It was weeping when he removed the old one and while it was probably fine, just needed to be cleaned or something, you’d been bustled into the car over your protests.

He carried you bridal style into the facility, as if him over reacting wasn’t embarrassing enough. “Humans! My very good friend requires care, most urgently!”

Staff and sick people alike turned to stare at his loud worried voice, and one of the ladies in scrubs quickly rolled over a wheel chair.

You buried your face in your hands. “No really, I’m FINE!” Please don’t let them rush you to the front of the line because the big guy was worried over a small little cut. _Please._

“You are not fine! You are wounded! Sans has told me that breaking your skin can lead to you getting to all sorts of nasty sicknesses or infections.” He was working himself back into the state he’d been in before. Which sucked since the car ride had almost calmed him down. “My brother is very lazy but he really knows his Science. He said your limb could rot and you’d die!”

He said science the way humans said magic. Like it was the answer to everything. Irrefutable. _Damn it Sans._ By the look on his smug face when you were forcibly carried out the door, he knew this would happen when he started explaining about human wounds.

The nurse was checking you over, had to cover her mouth when she finally caught sight of your injured foot and then handed over the usual patient forms. “It looks like you’ll be just fine. Just take these and fill them out and the doctor will be with you right away.” Still trying to keep a straight face she patted the skeleton’s arm consolingly. “You’re a very good friend for making sure she takes proper care of herself.”

Mollified that _someone_ at least was taking things seriously Papyrus relaxed a bit. “Yes. It is a surprise that she has survived this long without me.”

He wheeled you over to a corner. People were still staring; probably more because of the monster in the room then because they still thought your life was in danger. You buried yourself in the forms, grateful for the distraction.

Despite knowing he’d just worry more about you, you explained what the questions and your answers meant to Papyrus. About allergies and possible negative reactions to medication, and how some illnesses could be inherited. How the doctor needed to know so that he didn’t accidentally make already existing conditions worse.

As you expected the skeleton was completely aghast at how fragile humans were. He hovered anxiously, refusing to leave your side as the doctor checked you over and gave you a tetanus shot just in case. Luckily you were saved having to explain just what tetanus was by the doctor telling you to not aggravate the wound, keep it clean, air it out at night, change the band aid regularly. Basic care instructions but Papyrus hung on his every word with a level of severity you weren’t used to from him.

Again instead of listening to you and taking you home, you were carried back into the skelebros' house. He insisted on you staying the night. Just in case your ‘condition’ worsened. You tried to explain you were going to be fine, you’d be right next door, but he wasn’t listening as he bustled around to get you blankets and pillows for your continued stay on their couch.

You caught Sans watching you from the kitchen and you put on your best puppy dog expression and mouthed ‘save me’. He laughed at you and then shuffled over to his brother. “Hey, her face is getting awfully red. Maybe she’s coming down with a fever.”

“Oh no!” He fled from the room and you heard the bathroom sink running. By the sound of it he was getting you a wet wash cloth.

You leveled your best glare at Sans, which only served to make his smile bigger. “I will get you back for this.” He of course didn’t believe you.

* * *

You ended up having to take a day off from work. Not because there was anything wrong with your foot, but because Papyrus insisted on sitting on the loveseat watching you all night. You ended up staring at the glowing pinpricks of his pupils all night instead of sleeping.

This pleased him immensely of course. You weren’t sure if it was because he’d ‘won’ or just because he got an extra day to hang out with his human friend. Whatever. You made a big show of eating his ‘get well’ spinach, mushroom, and cheese omelet – it was really good, you kind of pleased he’d figured it out from what you’d taught him – and then made use of their shower to clean your ‘injury’ along with the rest of you.

Papyrus lent you a pair of hot pants and a crop top that said ‘Flawless’ on it. You’d be more embarrassed about the reviled skin if you weren’t immediately bustled back onto the couch under a mountain of blankets. Sans emerged from his room just before noon to see you still lying there, bags under your eyes and desperately trying to stay awake watching Papyrus doing a 500 piece puzzle on the floor. Every time your eyes drifted shut, he’d start fretting, so you were trying to at least pretend to pay attention.

The shorter skeleton had mercy on you. He brought you coffee ‘to jump start your immune system’ and managed to distract his brother into watching Mettaton on TV.

 _I’m still plotting revenge on you_. You thought at him as you finally drifted off.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short sorry. Lately just been in the mood to write lots of different things... so ... this is usually written when I'm in a good mood... Here's what happens when I don't stick to that. Sorry again.

As it happened, you successfully got your revenge, just not in the way you'd expected.

 

That evening you finally felt human again, had managed to get your own clothes back on - freshly laundered courtesy of the guy who couldn't seem to get enough 'caring' for you – and you were still trapped at the skelebros' house. Heaven forbid you ever actually get sick or something.

Foot didn't even hurt a little, _because it was just a cut_ and you'd been off it for two days. You were ready, willing, and able to go to your cooking class, followed by the long overdue reunion of you and your much beloved bed.

There was only one thing standing in your way.

A seven foot, cloth armor wearing, crying skeleton.

Everything in the world wanted to kill humans. Plants, animals, invisible bugs, visible bugs carrying deadly ailments, the weather, the air, other humans, random accidents, even the sun was killing you slowly. Things you needed to survive were often just as bad for you. With all the odds against you how could he possibly let you go out there?

He didn't want to let you go. He never wanted to let you leave the house. Ever. There was so much in the big bad world that could hurt a human that Papyrus, however great he was, couldn't even begin to protect you from.

It sounded depressing when he put it like that.

Somehow you ended up back on the couch trying to comfort the skeleton having an existential crisis, or midlife crisis, or maybe just an emotional breakdown from too little sleep and there was nothing you could do to stop it...

The front door opened and shut signaling the return of Sans who'd left only a bit ago to grab takeout.

You looked up at him as he stood frozen taking in the scene, and felt the tears you'd been holding back spill over as you silently begged him to fix this.

* * *

 

You and Papyrus sobbed into each other’s arms as Sans covered you both with a blanket, rubbed both of your backs, and whispered ‘soothing nonsense’ over and over.

Literally.

The words were silly enough to bring you back to yourself. The hushed tone and obvious care he put into the motions were what finally calmed Papyrus enough to allow his brother to lay him down on the couch, face buried in the cushions.

You slipped out of the blanket and out of the way onto the floor, knees bent and one arm propping up your now water logged head.

Sans kept rubbing small circles into his brothers back, looking down on him worriedly.

"What do I do Sans? He's not wrong - just about everything can kill me! But I can't just stay here and let him take care of me like I'm some helpless pet."

The crying made your words come out in a croak.

"And I can't just promise him I'll be fine every day and leave… What if something does happen! He'll be devastated."

It felt like you had cried all you possibly could and more, but a couple of hot tears still managed to escape your aching face. You were a complete mess.

Logically you should have just explained nothing had killed you yet, and nothing probably would, that people just didn't go around thinking about those things… but he had gotten so worried and you couldn't just leave him like that, and he was so sad over the thought of you dying, and it reminded you of that feeling of loss that ached inside you at odd moments, and the next thing you knew you’d both been crying about things that hadn't happened yet, and probably wouldn't happen and everything just hurt.

Just trying to process it all was making you want to go back to crying.

Sans kept his hand on his brothers back but looked at you... Well looked through you really. For once his staring didn't bother you.

It didn’t matter what he saw, because you were spilling your emotional guts here anyways.

"It's not fair! He shouldn’t be worrying about this." It wasn't. There was nothing anyone could do about it. Life just happened, and death came when it would, and he shouldn’t worry about it. Papyrus should only have good in his life.

Sans’ voice was barely a rumble, comforting like a cat’s purr. "you know... as over-protective as I can be, Paps _is_ an adult. He can handle this - it just came as a shock."

You dropped your head onto your knees. Your head was beginning to pound. Sure you wanted to agree with him but…

"Yeah. _I know_. I just. Don't. _Want_ him to be upset because of me. I don't know how to fix this. If it was someone else hurting him I could fight back or stand between him and it... But I _can't_ protect him from this. I... He's my best friend. I'd do anything for him and I **can’t do a single thing about this**."

Sans let out a soft chuckle. "pretty sure that's the same sort of thing Paps was upset about."

"He's a good friend." You murmured tiredly into your legs. How many people in your life could you say wanted to kidnap you forever just to keep you safe from anything? How many people did _you_ want to do that for?

A boney hand patted your shoulder. "so are you."

Hard to feel like it when you’d been crying. Hard to feel like anything but drained. _So much for class._

You struggled to your feet. "I'm going to make my great escape." The words didn't hold humor the way they had on previous occasions you'd uttered them.

Sans walked you to the door. Before you left, you cast a last look at Papyrus' curled form.

It was hard not to go back and tell him comforting lies. _Everything will be fine. I’ll never leave you. I won’t let anything bad happen. There’s no way that I’ll let this end._

"Just Uh. Keep him from building a cage between now and next weekend?" You wanted to ask him to take care of his brother but that was silly. Of course he would. You just were feeling emotionally vulnerable. Maybe you wanted to hear those comforting lies too.

"sure thing... though it's going to be hard. I like keeping things under a rest."

You gave him a halfhearted smile for his halfhearted joke and made your way home.

* * *

 

For all that you'd had an extra day off; the week seemed to drag by twice as long as it should have.

When the weekend finally arrived you realized you'd forgotten who's turn it was to host.

And of course then there was the worry Sans was going to decide that it wasn't okay for his brother to hang out with a human that'd made him cry.

Or maybe Papyrus was still feeling down and wouldn't want to hang out.

Or...

You couldn't wait anymore.

You grabbed your things and flew out the door, only to meet the skelebros halfway across the street.

You and papyrus stared at your feet and awkwardly shuffled around. Neither knowing how to address or move past your last interaction.

Sans had no such problems.

"i don’t know about you guys but i'm feeling a bit like a motorcycle right now."

Grateful for the distraction you turned to Sans. "How's that?"

His tired face lit up. "cause i'm two tired to go anywhere."

The tension breaks as papyrus groans. "Must you encourage him first thing in the morning?"

Laughing, you risked a glance at him to see he looked much better, glaring fondly down at his brother. You let out an easy sigh. Good. This was good.

"Sorry Papyrus. Uh coffees ready."

Sans didn't need telling twice to start shuffling that way. You turned to follow him, but a hand on your arm stopped you.

"My friend, I am very glad to see you are doing better." He had an orange blush on his cheeks. If he was feeling anything like you were, it was sheepish for having a breakdown in his living room the other night.

So you reached up and pulled him into a hug.

"How could I not be with someone so great looking out for me?"

He perked up at that and he let you lead the way back to your house.

The coffee pot was already empty, but you had a pretty strong spring in your step even without the usual boost.

* * *

Sans basically channel surfed on the couch all day on your usual weekend hangouts, while you and Papyrus banged around in the kitchen. The two of you counted your latest recipe a success if he pried himself away to come see if it was ready.

So it was a surprise to see him shuffle into the kitchen on his own while the two of you were just strategizing if it was possible to make a spaghetti pot pie.

You’d agreed that noodles were unnecessary due to the crust, and were discussing the idea of making it more like a giant ravioli instead of a traditional pot pie, when he meandered over to the refrigerator to pull out a bottle of ketchup. You still couldn't believe he drank that - fancy organic stuff or not you were fairly certain that would be hard on a human digestive track. He'd brushed off your concerns with a pun and you'd given up the argument.

“What's cooking in here?” He asked casually.

You and papyrus exchanged glances. You hadn’t even pulled out ingredients yet.

“Nothing as you can see Sans!” Papyrus was suspicious, and honestly you couldn’t blame him. It did kind of sound like the set up to a joke.

“You sure?” He said glancing around. “Something certainly smells hot in here...”

Just in case you check the oven to make sure neither one of you had left it on. Everything was fine.

“Nothings cooking in here sans I swear.” _Where was he going with this?_

He slapped a hand against his skull with an audible thunk and said “Oh silly me. I always get cooking confused with chemistry.”

You stared at him in confusion, getting that he was making a joke but not what about.

Sans chuckled at your expression and his brother’s customary groan. “seems my joke got a mixed reaction.”

You looked at the taller skeleton for answers, but he was ignoring you in favor of glaring at his brother. "I find your jokes to be in poor taste, Brother."

Snorting in surprise, you slapped your hands over your mouth. But Papyrus’ pleased look at your reaction caused the rest of your laughs to come spilling out around your hands.

Even Sans looked pretty pleased as he shuffled back out of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bored yet? I mean... I'm super psyched you all seem to like it, but I have no sense of pacing. Sorry if you hate it. Thanks for reading.

Papyrus didn’t often do nervous. He was loud, outgoing, tackled activities with a level of exuberance children and puppies alike envied...but other than the breakdown the two of you shared the other week, you rarely saw your tall friend out of his element.

But this weekend he did not greet you with a smile as bright as the summer sun, or boundless energy to do, see, or make something. He wouldn't even meet your eyes as you and Sans indulged in your morning ritual of imbuing your personal ambrosia.

He fidgeted and played with an empty mug and didn't rush you to get started with the day’s activity. You exchanged a look with Sans who simply shrugged. 

Finally Papyrus cleared his nonexistent throat a few times, and when he spoke he was surprisingly subdued.

"So Um. Friend..." He visibly braced himself. "This next weekend is the anniversary of the day that monsters were released from the underground. We will not be able to make our usual hangout session."

Sure you were disappointed but you understood. This was a big deal and your schedules wouldn't always line up, he did have other friends after all. Plus the holiday was a huge thing for the monsters who’d spent who knows how long underneath a mountain while humanity continued on completely ignorant of their plight.

Before you could reply, he continued still not meeting your eyes. "However... I would like to extend an invitation for you to accompany me to the event."

Oh. He thought you'd be mad at him for leaving you behind. You tried to reassure him.

"Well I'm honored but I don't want to impose, this is a monster event after all."

Papyrus looked up, a faint dusting of orange across his cheeks, expression unusually serious.

"Nonsense.  I am encouraged to bring plus one person. There is no stipulation on who that person is."

Oh well. Plus ones were normally dates but if he wanted to bring you instead, how could you say no? It seemed to mean a lot to him... And honestly you were touched he wanted to bring you to such an important event.

"What should I wear? Do I need to dress up?" It wasn’t televised. Ever. Some humans did go as guests of the monsters but while it wasn’t exactly a hush hush sort of event, it resonated very deeply with the monsters and somehow they’d gotten the media to respect their privacy. So you didn't know a lot about it.

His eagerness was back in full force, his smile wider than you've ever seen it. "At least one step above your usual nice date clothes."

You were happy he'd shaken off his mood - surely he didn't think you had a problem with monsters? - but his explanation wasn’t very helpful.

“So formal attire?” You asked hesitantly, shifting your attention to the shorter brother.

His eyes danced with mischief. “yeah. you should see Paps all dressed up. it really suits him.” 

“Saaaaans!” The skeleton in question groaned out in protest and you couldn’t help but giggle at the brothers usual antics. It took a few puns and Papyrus threatening to exchange all of Sans’ ketchup bottles with marinara sauce before they got back on topic. 

“bring an overnight bag so you can slip into something more comfortable. the second day is much more relaxed.” That sounded doable. You started mentally cataloging what you’d need to take as Papyrus regaled you with descriptions of the second day’s activities which included soul binding ceremonies, posturing, challenges, fights, obstacle course designing and running, even cooking contests. Many were the sort of things that you’d probably be doing anyways with Papyrus.

Neither brother mentioned what happened on the first day.

* * *

 “so what are your intentions towards my bro?” Sans might as well have teleported behind you for all the notice you’d taken of his arrival in the kitchen. You almost threw the hamburger meat that you were preparing across the room in shock.

Papyrus was at the store, picking up more decorative Mtt Brand food items to experiment with perhaps improving their use in food. Today you were trying to make glam burgers and needed more sequins than he'd had. Setting down the meat you washed your hands and tried to let your racing heart settle before giving the short skeleton your full attention.

That he had decided to corner you while his brother was out had not escaped your notice.

“I'm sorry? What do you mean?” You asked, and wondered if it had anything to do with the staring he always seemed to be doing. If he didn’t believe you truly were glad to be friends with Papyrus at this point, you weren’t sure saying so would help any, but you were willing to humor him.

He leaned against the counter, elbows resting behind him. Casual said his body but his eyes were intense. “weeeell.” He drawled out as if savoring the word. “you're always together, you say you're best friends, and you’re going on a date with him next weekend.” 

Your brain froze. This was not the conversation you’d thought you were having. “I'm _what_? This is a _date_?” 

His smile widened, enjoying your stunned expression.

Giving a feeble sort of grin in return you asked, “Wait you're just messing with me aren't you?” Of course he was. This was _Sans._

Unfortunately it was not in the way you’d hoped.

“nah. trying to keep this conversation clean in fact. i mean. he _is_ my brother.” 

Brain stuttered to a stop, rebooted, and you sat heavily at the kitchen table. “Saaaaans!” You whined. Normally his puns were funny, but this was a different level of teasing entirely.   

He took pity on you and sat across from you, favoring you with one of his rare serious expressions. “look he really seems to like you a lot, and I just wanted to see where you stood about the whole thing.” The smug grin returned and he wiggled his eye sockets at you. “there's still time to back out if you're not wanting to hit the bone zone.” 

Your face flushed at the insinuation. “Sans!” You protested louder channeling Papyrus. No wonder his brother refused to encourage his puns if this is what it led to!

Sans raised hands pacifyingly, adopting again his serious look. “as opposed to the friend zone. he'll get it if you let him down gently.”

Let him down gently? Let him down? Papyrus _liked_ you? This seemed too much for your brain to handle. “Is this…Did he really mean this as a date date?” It felt silly to say it that way, but it hadn’t every occurred to you before that he might. And his brother had to tell you? _REALLY?_

His answer was a lazy shrug. “you'd have to ask him, now wouldn't you?”

Groaning you buried your still red face in your hands. Maybe Sans _was_ just pranking you. But now you’d never be able to escape the thought of 'what if he wasn’t'. “Why do you do this to me?” You moaned plaintively.  

“big brother’s prerogative.” Never mind that he wasn’t _your_ big brother. Apparently you had been adopted… Or he was planning on you marrying into the family. _How is this even a thing?_

“here. let's make this easier.” His voice grew gentler, allowing you to look up. “do you have a problem with dating monsters?” 

Despite being glad he was through teasing you for the moment, the conversation had not gotten any easier to handle. “I guess not? It's never come up before! I don't see a problem between humans and monsters dating…” And you didn’t. People were people right? But... “I just didn't even consider it a possibility? He's a skeleton!”

Okay you probably could have found a more tactful way to say that while talking to another skeleton, but still. Your point stood. Why would any of the usual relationship things apply to Papyrus since he was all bones?

Sans’ expression didn’t become reproachful. If anything his tone grew more understanding. “we've got souls. we fall in love just as easy as any other person.” 

Neck crawling with guilt you looked down at the table. Duh. Monsters were still people, you _knew_ that.

“You're right. I should know better.... Just hadn't thought abou-” His words caught up to you in a rush. “Love?!?” You squeaked out. It was way too early to talk about the L word wasn’t it?

Enjoying your panicked expression Sans gave you a large wink. “and people still want to jump our bones.”

It didn’t matter that you couldn’t fathom the logistics of it – your mind went there.

“Please stop.” You begged him. Your friendship with Papyrus was great, you didn’t want to ruin that with weird thoughts. No way you were ever bringing this up with him. IF he liked you, he’d tell you. The big guy wasn’t exactly good at subtle.

“you are surprisingly easy to fluster about this. do you liiiiiiike my bro?” The front door opened, saving you from answering. Fleeing the kitchen chased by the sound of laughter, you practically tackled your best friend.

“Papyrus!” You knew you were red in the face, and had to alleviate his concern before his brother decided to tell him exactly why you were so embarrassed. So you whined out the first thing that came to mind. “Your brother has been plaguing me with his vile punnery since you left!”

The rest of the weekend was spent in a prank war. Neither you or Papyrus manage to pull one over on Sans, but the shenanigans was enough to drive awkward questions from your mind.  


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry for the delay; I literally am incapable of writing fluff. I tried so hard and it took me a while to figure out the sort of thing I wanted for the first day, and now I honestly have no idea how to capture the original flavor of this story. 
> 
> Anywho I know the feely stuff is terrible and I’m sorry. 
> 
> While I hate my melodramatic wording I really do like the overarching concept of what’s going on these two days and the relations between the humans and monsters. Day two should be pretty soon just need to clean it up a bit before posting.
> 
> Really glad ya’ll have enjoyed this thus far, hope I don’t disappoint you too much with this bit of silliness. Thanks for reading!

School was winding down - or up depending on how you wanted to look at it - between the stress of finals fast approach and the upswing of business at work as the summer began, you were looking forward to the mini vacation.

You'd bought a nice formal outfit for the first day, packed an overnight bag, and were just about ready to go. There was only one problem.

You couldn't get sans words out of your head.

What if he _did_ like you? What if he had intended this as a _date_? There could have been a million little signs and you’d just missed them all because it never occurred to you a skeleton would bother to hit on you. He was your best friend and you didn’t want to mislead him by sending the wrong signals by going.

On the other hand...

Papyrus would have said if this was a date. Right? Heck the big guy announced every activity with an official title and a grand gesture. Him on a date would probably be large and demonstrative in the extreme.

This was more like being invited to a friend’s family reunion.

You refused to waste another moment worrying about it. This was supposed to be fun and meaningful and perhaps educational.

Monsters had adapted so readily to human culture it was odd to think how much you didn’t know about theirs.

Banging at the door announced their arrival, and after one more glace around the room to make sure you hadn’t missed anything, you grabbed the small duffle and the garment bag and met them outside.

A shiny red convertible Cadillac and the skelebros were waiting up for you. Papyrus was in the driver’s seat with aviator shades taped onto his skull, and Sans was stretched along the back seat with all three seatbelts buckled in around him. After tossing your things in the trunk you climbed in and away you all went.

The drive wasn’t long, a couple of hours of cruising with the top down and singing popular earworms and the occasional Mettaton hit single and you had arrived at the bottom of the mountain.

All sorts of monsters were parking, greeting one another along with a scattering of humans, before making their way over to the line of what looked like small holiday cabins. Papyrus leapt from the car to go greet everyone by name, and Sans had vanished – oddly the buckles were still connected – so you decided to grab the bags and figure out where you were staying.

It was easy enough to grab take it in one trip. The two duffle bags you slung over your shoulders, the three garment bags you held carefully in your arms so you didn’t muss the formal wear, and a small bag you had to hold by its strap to keep it from floating away like a balloon.

Before you’d made it out of the parking lot a small furry hand had relieved you of the garment bags and one of the duffles. “Oh thank you.”

The almost feline looking man shrugged and grimaced. “No problemo little buddy, rather lend a hand to you then get caught up in all that drama.” He jerked a thumb over to where Mettaton – the sexy rectangle monster star himself – was somehow directing a mess of monsters carrying what seemed like an endless supply of boxes into each of the cabins.

Seeing your face light up in surprise, he let out an exaggerated sigh and his ears bent flat to his head in distaste. “Look, take it from me, admire that one from afar. Trust me when I say it’s hard to recover from the disillusionment.”

As if his talking about him had commanded his attention, a metallic voice cut across the way. “Ooooh There you are Burgerpants! _Please_ stop slacking off and come organize this! Everything _must_ be perfect!”

He took a deep breath, let it out, and then handed you the bags back with a tightly clenched jaw arranged into something resembling a smile. “Go head over there and talk to Memoryhead, he’ll help you get situated in a cabin. Kay buddy?”

Without waiting for a response he turned and stomped away, hands clenched at his sides as he yelled back, “Listen you shiny metal HACK!  I’ve told you my name! And I don’t work for your hammy ass anymore!” Around you everyone continued about their business so you guessed this sort of thing was normal.

Shrugging you went as directed towards a floating wispy monster that looked like it was composed of several different faces all meshed together into a floating blob. Some of them seemed to take notice of you while others focused on other monsters crowded around it.

In your pocket, your phone vibrated and then let out a screech that caused you to jump followed by what sounded like an old dial up tone. You managed not to drop anything despite your racing heart as the awful noise stopped. A mechanical voice said “Please wait. Scanning initiated.”

While you didn’t feel anything, you did smell something odd for such a scenic area. It was like… old corroded batteries…Your phone beeped and you jumped again but were starting to get used to this odd method of communication. “Thank you. Guest of the Font brothers. Cabin 42.” The faces looked away from you and you felt something new in your pocket.

Shifting the bags you managed to check and sure enough there was a key you’d never seen before.

Magic was pretty nifty.

Cabin 42 hosted two twin beds, a small loveseat, and a half bath all sparkly decorated. Usually these cabins were used for tourists who wanted to take a tour of Mt Ebbot but for Surface Day the place was closed. Dropping the bags on one of the beds – except for Sans that made its way to the ceiling after you’d let go – you took a look around making sure everything was set up. There were fresh linens out, the windows were opened letting in the warm air and sunshine, mints on the pillows, a vegetable basket on the counter, and there was even a freshly brewed pot of coffee waiting you.  

Grabbing a cup, you noticed there was a pile of boxes in one corner of the room all bearing the Mtt brand. You decided to wait for instructions before touching them. The robot had a tendency to slip bombs into innocuous looking things, and you really didn’t want to end up covered in glitter or slime if you failed to figure out the obscure method of disabling them. You’d seen his shows after all.

Feeling much more relaxed now that you’d done something useful and indulged your coffee addiction, you decided to catch up with Papyrus. While you knew at some point you were supposed to change into your formal wear, you still hadn’t been informed what the itinerary for today was.

Not that there seemed to be any rush. Stepping back outside you saw the steady stream of arriving monsters hadn’t abated any and knots of people lingered here and there catching up. It really was just like a family reunion and it seemed like every monster, no matter how far they’d spread out, was returning to celebrate.

There were so many monsters wondering about that you honestly had no idea where to start looking for your friends. You walked around aimlessly for a bit before a large hand clapped you on the back.

“Howdy! You look lost, perhaps I can help.” It was the king. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and had his blonde mane braided, but you still recognized his majestic form from the news.

You smiled up at him, slightly intimidated and tried to think of what to say. “That’s very kind of you, um your majesty.” All of your knowledge about how to interact with royalty came from movies, which didn’t really cover jolly fellows who insisted you called them by their first name, guided you like a child by the hand, and apparently had an encyclopedic knowledge of all things flowers.

At some point you realized that, like a doting grandfather, he’d gotten completely sidetracked from taking you to Papyrus and was just walking aimlessly, occasionally stopping to greet and introduce you to other monsters.

Sure at first you felt awkward being dragged around by the king of the monsters, but after a bit you just relaxed and went with it. He was such a nice guy. Finally he dropped you back outside your cabin and instructed you to eat up and rest for the big event.

The door swung open before you could get the key out and you were dragged inside by the very skeleton you’d been looking for. He handed you a plate of veggies and a sandwich – crusts removed – and bustled you onto the love seat where Sans was sprawling reading a physics book.

Papyrus was flitting around the cabin excitedly. Apparently _almost_ everyone had arrived and it was _almost_ time to get ready... It was kinda cute how he wasn’t really good with waiting. A glance around told you he’d already cleaned everything, unpacked his bags, and eaten. The boxes in the corner remained untouched so you figured they were something for tomorrow.

Trying to figure out something to distract the big guy while you were all waiting your eyes caught sight of the bag that was still making nice with the rafters. Swallowing a bit of carrot you nudged the shorter brother. He grunted an acknowledgement but didn’t look up from his book.

“Aren’t you going to unpack Sans?” This earned you a sidelong glance from him, and Papyrus practically teleported over to the beds looking for the bag he’d missed.

“Brother where is your bag? Did you forget to bring it again?” He had his hands on his hips and was looking disgruntledly down at his brother.

Sans put down his book and winked. “Nah just decided to pack light.” With dawning horror Papyrus looked towards the ceiling.

To escape his brothers puns, and to let Sans read his book in peace, Papyrus guided you back outside where you spent the rest of the afternoon hearing stories of his time underground. While it was before he was an official member of the royal guard, he was no less great back in the past he assured you.

He regaled you with tales of how he’d cunningly caught the human ambassador, who was just Frisk back then, how together they’d solved numerous puzzles, of his dedication to Undyne’s cooking lessons, and his snow skeletons which he promised to teach you to build this winter.

It all sounded very nice, and you wouldn’t mind climbing down there and taking a look around yourself one day…

But even as you laughed at his adventures you had to wonder and eventually gave in and asked if it bothered him. That for all the things he had done and accomplished under the mountain there was a huge world up here he could have been interacting with if it wasn’t for humans. How could he not on some level resent you all?

Papyrus actually thought about it for a moment as you walked. “Because while things were difficult in the past I believe that together humans and monsters can do better from now on. That’s what Surface Day is really about.”

His belief was strong and palpable, shining strongly in his eyes. Part of you wanted to call it naivety, because while everything was going smoothly for now there were still hate groups in the world and not everyone was going to be willing to try and make inter-species peace a permanent thing. Maybe you should have asked Sans or another monster who had a more cynical outlook about how monsters really felt about the whole situation.

Guess you’d find out soon enough.

* * *

 

Just as the sun was becoming a brilliant sunset casting orange and pink streaks across the sky, the monsters climbed back up the mountain.

Humans and monsters were separated as they all congregated at the exit of the underground to talk in the view. It was reverentially silent.

Clothes you learned hadn’t been really important in the underground and not all monsters wore them. But when they came to the surface they’d learned how it was seen as respectful to dress up. The moment of silence, the formalities they’d adopted readily from humans... They were just trappings really.

Unimportant.

The main event, the part that actually had meaning that first day was when they bowed their heads and then all of the monsters exposed their souls. Basking in the pale light emitted from one hundred inverted white hearts.

Later you would learn that all of the monster souls combined only equaled one human soul... But right at that moment you saw everything they all were together and felt very small, like looking up and seeing the sky full of stars and realizing how insignificant you were in comparison.

It was beautiful.

After a few moments Asgore came over, soul floating proudly in front of him as he walked down the line of humans. One by one he summoned their souls. Each had a single vibrant color that corresponded to a trait. But that was something you were to discover later. For now you felt a tug and there it was. The heart shaped soul that represented you.

As soon as it was pulled free you understood.

Monsters were _made_ of love and compassion. You could feel it. The humans beside you pulsed intensely with individual strengths but you were all accepted taken in and apart of the whole.

It didn’t matter that they were monster and you were human.

It didn’t matter that so many ages ago your ancestors had trapped them for what could have been forever.

You were all forgiven.

**Loved.**

You were a part of them - not trapped on the planet below but one of the bright specks that lit up the sky.

It was cleansing.

You didn’t know how long you all stood there, communing, sharing, mourning, affirming. Everyone’s soul went back to its respective owner without visible prompting all at once. The sky was dark.

You felt light headed, giddy, and full inside like you never had before. You cared, cared more about every living thing than you ever had before, felt bolder, more passionate, more at peace with everyone and everything around you than you ever had before.

It was like being drunk on sunshine. It made your insides sing like a babbling brook and yet it also felt calm like a forest grotto.

You had to find Papyrus and share this feeling with him.

It was suddenly very important to you.

You knew exactly where he was too. It was a tingly feeling in your heart. You just knew which way to go and where he was even though he seemed to be wondering through the now dispersing crowed.  He could have been on the other side of the world and you could have followed your heart to him.

You didn’t pause to think, just wrapped your arms around him when you found him. He returned the hug but didn’t seem as well... Out of it as you did.

“Papyrus why aren’t you happy?” You questioned. You wanted to share this wellspring of positivity that flowed inside of you with him.

“Oh I am very happy my friend!” He picked you up in his tight hug swinging you back and forth and you laughed as he set you back down. His eyes _were_ sparkling happily but you were positive this was his normal exuberance and not this bubbliness that filled you.

Your cheeks were starting to hurt from how hard you were smiling but you couldn’t find it in you to stop.

Sans popped up beside you, snickering and _he_ seemed a bit more cheerful than usual but not completely overflowing with it like you felt.

“You just shared your soul with a hundred monsters. And they shared theirs with you. Not to mention the other humans.” He grabbed your arm and pulled you to sit on the grass, neither of you caring that it would probably mess up your nice clothes.

“If your soul is everything you are then that glowing light - the aura - is everything you put out into the world. We all shared that. You’re going to be a little touchy-feely the next couple of days but the effects’ll fade.”

Now that he mentioned it you noticed you were feeling an urge to touch others, to share that feeling of connectedness you still felt with everyone. You had patted and hugged your way over to Papyrus earlier and were actually now leaning amiably against Sans as he lectured you.

“Why doesn’t Papyrus seem effected by it?” The man in question was flitting around, passing out hugs like they were candy to everyone he possibly could. But that didn’t seem entirely out of character for him given what had just happened.

Sans sighed happily, eyes focused on his brother. “Well… monsters are generally used to being filled up with happy positive things and wanting to share that feeling with everyone. The happier you are, the better you’re able to handle it.”

He snorted. “Heck paps doesn't even get drunk on magical alcohol which is effectively an artificial version of what you just experienced.”

There was so much you didn’t know about monsters. But that no longer felt like something bad. It just meant you had so much to learn and experience still. You took a deep breath of cleansing air, feeling the happy hum coming from your soul that almost seemed to be echoed all around you. “So Papyrus feels like this all the time?”

Sans made a soft noise of agreement as you both stared after his brother who was running around passing out hugs and chatting excitedly with the other monsters, rounding up the humans who were doing silly things like rolling in the grass and just sitting crying softly. Having another person or monster nearby seemed to help stabilize them to some extent.

In fact since you started leaning in Sans you felt much more in control, albeit way more tactile than normal. You were resting your head in his shoulder and had your arm wrapped around his and weren’t at all concerned about how it looked or normal personal boundaries.

If Papyrus felt like this all the time, he must put so much careful consideration into human interactions. He never seemed overly touchy, despite being a hugger. But if he felt this happy glow that needed to be expressed all the time...

“He’s so cool.” You whispered in awe.

Sans shifted a bit and sighed happily again. “Yeah. My bro is the coolest.”

Everyone seemed to be grouping off just sitting in close clusters. Eventually Papyrus returned and sat behind the two of you; his ridiculously long legs stretched out on either side you and his arms wrapping you both into a tight hug.

You felt safe and loved in a way you hadn’t since you were a kid.

"I love you guys." You whispered reverently into the night. And it didn’t feel odd or embarrassing or something you had to think about. These two skeletons meant the world to you and it didn’t matter why or how. They were your friends and you loved them.

The night was warm, the sky was a dark velvet backdrop and the stars were wishes that you could touch.

You stretched out a hand above you and petted the sky, the breeze giving the illusion you were actually stroking the inky blackness.

The day had felt surprisingly short. Like not much had happened. And maybe it hadn’t.

You’d basically stood around with a bunch of people and said a prayer mourned those dead, dusted, fallen down, and lost... But you’d also rejoiced and communed with the living. It was very literally the most spiritual thing you’d ever experienced.

Even knowing the effects would fade and you may not understand or be able to ever contain the same amount of pure goodness that you did right now, you didn’t feel sad about the upcoming loss.

It was a precious gift and it being temporary didn’t lessen it in any way. If anything it filled you up even more with how lucky you were to be able to experience and share this with them.

Others monsters settled in around you - tomorrow they’d tell you humans were always so strongly affected and it was easier for the monsters that brought them to corral them so they weren’t experiencing the intensity of everything alone. The rest of the monsters would simply pile in around the established groups until they were all just sitting cuddling together under the open sky.

It was another way to feel connected. Everyone was touching everyone else and it was a reminder that they would always be together. It made it easier to bear the intensity of caring so much. Because everyone here cared and would _always_ share that feeling.

But that was tomorrows worry.

Tonight it was about being together and being free in a way you never had been before.


End file.
